now to the candidates, according to viewers surveys, romney won last night's debate and he won big. cnn survey said 67% of viewers gave him the edge after his first meeting. will that translate into more votes on election day? we have more on what we are hearing the campaign trail today. i'm sure this is what ever is talking about. >> reporter: it is. they -- interesting thing. will it impact the election? couple of ways to break it down. one to look at historicly. that's what gollup did, taking a look at the last other years of debates, they found two impacted the election. in 1960 with nixon and kennedy and in 2000 with bush and gore. the other thing, is to look at what happened today when romney saw the story line shift in his direction. the republican nominee couldn't resist another stop in denver. he surprised colorado's action committee by joining his sons on stage and talking of feeling the energy. >> i said the president's vision has trickle down government and i don't think that's what american believes in. i see instead a prosperity that comes through freedom. >> reporter: